Penguins And Polar Bears
by Vonlenska
Summary: Luna just woke up on a beach... in Dol Amroth. Ha-ha, yeah, right! -YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, there's no way in hell that someone can just happen to wake up in Middle-Earth, okay? ...Well, that's what she always thought. -T for vocabulary!
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** Okay, it's my second English fic. Please be kind with me, I'm trying to do all the best I can! This fic is all a flashback since you find **/.../ **and until you find it again it will be a flashback. The main character is an Spanish girl from 21th Century, but you will see how she is. I have to say that this story takes place after the war.

**Special Note:** I want to say thank you to Lady Demiya since she is helping me with my English grammar as my Poke-friend/Beta-reader and I'm so happy with her edit!

"blah blah blah" = Dialogues

_"blah blah blah" = Thoughts/Memories_

**Warning:** It could be a little Mary Sue, but ONLY A LITTLE, so you all can read it and love her because she will be in troubles easily... Or maybe not.

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**3020 T.E.- Dol Amroth**

It's a Mirror. The only thing I can see is a mirror and its reflection of a girl… and that girl is I. My skin is white, but not like snow, but of a colour like the sand of any Caribbean beach lost in the middle of the grand sea. A beach touched by the sun every day.

My name is Luna

**...**

Luna tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, making her face more visible. Her eyes were big and deep - the colour of a pearl touched by the sky on a sunny day. Her hair was of the deepest brown you could ever see.

Luna stepped forward towards the mirror and rested her hands at the edge of the dressing table without breaking her gaze from the mirror. She observed her skin, which had little freckles all along her nose, and continued along her pink cheeks. They were pink thanks to the alcohol in her blood at that moment. The young woman bit her bottom lip in thought.

She thought that she was beautiful. Also, she thought about her life now and the dress she was wearing too. The deep purple dress was loose around her legs, but fitted well around her curves. On the corset, it had embroidery in silver thread, matching the embroidery on the sleeves. She wore a belt on the hips, also.

"Okay, I'm a fool. You are a fool little Luna. You are dressed like a little princess, and here you are, waiting for your prince, while he is flirting at that stupid party!" Her tiny hands wiped her tears away. "Stupid pretentious prince!"

"Oh! I came to see if you we're okay…"

Luna turned around, startled by the voice. Amrothos entered the room, seeming somewhat concerned for the woman standing before him.

"Oh! You're a stupid prince too, but I was not talking of you…" Luna continued.

Amrothos rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them.

"I know. I only was trying to make you laugh… or smile at least! Do not cry, Luna. My brother doesn't deserve your tears right now. So come on. We are having a party! Come and dance with me, please!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room until they arrived in the great hall "Can you hear it? It is our song!"

"Do we have a song?"

"But of course!"

"Well, at least it is a nice song. Shall we dance?"

Amrothos smiled and guided her to the middle of the dance floor. It was an unusual rhythm with simple steps, but the people loved it. Several dance partners took to the floor. Luna somewhat liked the sudden enjoyment she felt dancing. It lifted her spirits.

"May I dance with you now, Lady Luna?" another man asked, taking her hand and smiling.

"But of course, Lord Faramir," Luna answered.

"Thank you, cousin," Faramir said, acknowledging Amrothos with a bow. The two men smiled at each other and then the music started for the next dance. "Why did you call me 'Lord' Faramir?"

"Because, you called me 'Lady' Luna, and I found it funny!" Now she was smiling and Faramir matched her smile.

"I'm glad you are not angry anymore… or sad," Faramir said as they danced.

Luna opened her mouth to reply but he silenced her. "No, no, listen to me! He loves you, Luna. He loves you terribly! But he can't do anything about it right now. Lady Eliose is the daughter of an important man of the court. If the prince denies her a dance or something, she will probably go to her father and complain."

"And what is the matter with a girl talking to her father because one man denies her a dance?" Luna inquired, not understating most of the courtly rules of this world.

"The matter is that Uncle Imrahil is a close friend of her father. So he would be the target of the disappointment, and my cousin knows it very well."

"But that is not a reason to flirt with her!" Luna complained, feeling her original emotions starting to swell within her. Her eyes were starting to blur again, but she did her best for control herself in such a public moment. "Yes, Faramir. Your dear cousin is flirting with the girl, and it breaks my heart."

Finally, the dance ended and they both walked outside together to talk a little more freely.

"Maybe he's only being the actor he is. No?" Faramir suggested.

"Oh, no. I don't think so. He likes her, but it is okay. If he doesn't want me, then I will shut up and smile."

Faramir moved to stand in front of her, looking into her eyes with a soft smile playing on his lips

"Well that is a lot better than sitting around and crying, but I know he loves you." Faramir stopped speaking at the sound of giggles. He turned to his right, and saw whom it was he and Luna were intruding on. His face drained of colour.

"Who is there?" Luna asked as she stepped a little forward to have a look, but Faramir grabbed her arm to stop her. "Faramir, I want to know who is there, I will be like a ninja. Do not trouble me!" Luna smiled as she joked, but Faramir's face remained serious.

Luna walked over to the stairs leading towards the upper balcony and stood in shock. There, Erchirion stood, with his hands around the waist of a young woman, kissing her neck softly as the woman giggled with delight.

"Do you enjoy this, my lady?" he asked, talking into her neck. The woman ceased her giggling and said that she 'loved it' and asked him to kiss her on the lips 'but of course' he replied, and he kissed her softly, yet passionately.

"You… how could you?" Luna shouted at Erchirion.

The pair stopped kissing and turned towards the grief stricken girl at the foot of the stairs.

"Luna!" Erchirion said, surprised, but the woman he had been kissing seemed glad at the vision of this 'other' girl crying at the bottom of the stairs.

"I trusted you… I really trusted you!" Luna continued to shout, looking at Faramir who was grabbing her arm. "Do you think he loves me now!" she yelled at Faramir. She pulled away from his grip and ran off, away from them all.

Erchirion stood, speechless. "Faramir I… just"

"Shut up," Faramir said daringly. "You were enjoying that kiss, weren't you?" Faramir turned to the sniggering woman next to Erchirion. "And you, little lady will come with me. We need to have a talk with your father."

"Oh, will you tell him that I was kissing his friend's son?" she asked, smiling sweetly at Faramir while putting her arms around Erchirion's neck. Erchirion, however, was lost in his own thoughts.

"No, do not trouble me," Faramir warned her. "I will tell him all about that man in your room this morning." She pulled away from Erchirion and turned pale.

"What? How did you know about that?" she asked rather terrified of the consequence.

**...**

Meanwhile, in the garden, Luna was sitting on a bench with her head leaned against a tree. She no longer attempted to wipe away her tears. Nothing could ease the pain she was feeling.

"I really believed he loved me. I really thought he was near to asking me to be his girlfriend or my hand or something like that… I don't know how their stupid traditions go! I don't want to be here anymore. What the hell am I supposed to do here? Why would you, dear abstract energy, kidnap me and take me to a place called Middle-earth? Could anyone tell me? Could something... or anything take me home? I miss my mum… and my brother, and my friends and even my mum's boyfriend! I miss my stupid fat cat and my teddy bear. I even miss chocolate!" Her whispers could not be heard by anybody close by. She was alone in the garden.

**/…/**

'_There are so many stories in the history of our world; many are lost, spread in the winds of time, beyond the memory of men… but there are some stories that should not be forgotten. We came of the water; we came of the ancient days, changing into years until this moment, passing by our lifeline, like a bloodline of Kings. A current, flowing fast is full of memory and sorrow. One drop of blood, then another, can become a whisper, a river, an increasing unstoppable torrent that, with time, can break all resistance and flow free again.'_

All that started one chilly summer afternoon with the sunset illuminating the beach. A young woman slept on the seashore, coated by the sun like a croquette in breadcrumbs. Her hair was wet, thanks to the waves that lightly swept over her. She opened her eyes.

"Mmph?" She looked around the beach, but could not find anybody near her.

"Oh, no… the same joke again! Ha-ha, it is so funny guys!" Luna said, sitting up. "You can show yourselves now and we can go home!" Nobody answered. "Okay, stop it now, bastards!" Luna stood up and started to walk over to a large rock that she intended to climb.

"I don't know this place," she said. "Okay, I'm bloody enjoying this. It is my dream; to be alone on a beach I don't know and talking with myself as if I were mad. Oh, God, I'm going bloody mad!" She climbed down the rock and started to walk once more. The hopes of finding a kind person who could take her home or show her how she can go to home were in her heart. Her shoes were in her hand and her bag over her shoulder.

If she walked for five hours or five minutes, she didn't know, but also didn't care when she saw a few human silhouettes. Well it seemed human…

She started to run. She did not know why. Part of her felt fearful of where she had ended up. She honestly had no idea where she was. None of her surrounding seemed familiar to her. Once she ceased running, she took a deep breath, then another, and then another, and another. She needed oxygen before she ultra-oxygenate herself! She smoothed her hair a little and then her dress; dusted off the sand, cursed some people in her mind and then started to walk in peace. _"If this is a joke, I can play with them also. Don't show your panic, woman!" _She thought to herself.

After she walked for several minutes, she saw people out in the distance. She found it difficult to keep on walking when she realised they were looking at her.

"Well, we have a visitor, men… a pretty visitor." The voice was awful and drunken, and it had no sense to her. "Come on, little young lady, don't be afraid of us! We can _enjoy_ together!" The man's friends exploded into laughter.

At that moment, she realised one of her problems. She only understood the laugh; she could not catch any word! Something wasn't okay.

"Where are we? Hey, let me go!" Luna shouted.

One man grabbed her wrist with much force so she could not leave. His grip tightened as she struggled, causing Luna great pain.

"I said, LET ME GO, stupid squid!" But the man did not move, so she slapped him with all the force she had and kicked him in the ribs. When her attempts of freeing herself failed, she knew now that she had another problem.

"Take her!" the first man shouted, and yet she could not understand what they were saying. Finally, she managed to break free and started to run. To her dismay, she could not run fast enough, and soon there were above twenty men closing in on her.

Luna felt two big dirty hands grabbing her thin arm, and then another pair of hands catching the other arm. They held her with her arms stretched out to the sides.

"Do not worry, sweet, you will enjoy _it,_" said one of the men, throwing his stinking drunk and tobacco breath on her face. She could not stand to put her face to him.

"But I don't have any money," Luna said, while the same man came close to her. "Okay! Yes, I have money inside my bag! Or you can have my mobile phone! It is an iPhone! You can take it if you want, but let me go, please!" She started crying - they started laughing.

"You seem foreign… I am wondering what the hell you are saying. So, please, don't be upset if I take it like, 'Oh please, make me yours!'

Poor girl… Luna didn't catch the meaning of the sentence, but they were laughing more and it didn't sound pretty. The man who was talking undid his belt.

"NO! PLEASE! NO! YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME! YOU CANNOT …" She was crying with all her energy and anger, but that only made the men laugh more.

Then everything happened so fast, Luna hardly remembered what happened. The man was bringing up her dress when an arrow crossed his chest. Then the men, who were holding her, broke their grip and she fell to the ground. That was the perfect excuse for Luna to start running, but her body didn't move… Her mind also, was too afraid to move. She then saw a man. Actually, a corpse fell next to her, covered in blood.

Luna gave a high-pitched scream and then she started crying again. She got on her feet without any sense of balance, then crushed against someone and fell again. She started to crawl, avoiding corpses and blood splashes, until she found herself a little far from the scene of crime. She sat down and embraced her knees while weeping with fear. Then she realised that all was calm. First of all came all new arrivals. About twelve or thirteen men, and one started to talk with her.

"Are you okay, my lady?" he asked, concerned.

But Luna could not understand what he was saying. She crawled a little further away until she crushed against a rock.

"She is very scared. Poor girl. Bloody bastards!" Another man came forward.

"That's true, Tybalt. Poor girl" The voice of this man was soft and chill. He kneeled in front of her. "Hello, my lady. My name is Amrothos, and you have no reason to fear me." He smiled at her and then offered his hand. She knew inside of her that she did not have any reason to fear him, but her body was frozen. "Oh, look at you! You are covered in blood. I am sorry, it wasn't our intention. We were only on patrol when we heard you crying. Can you forgive us?" He smiled again.

Still, Luna could not understand a word any of the men were saying.

"You don't want to talk with me? Oh, I was hoping for something along the lines of, 'Oh, thank you. You are my hero!' Amrothos chuckled a little. His smile was sufficient enough for Luna to take his hand and get up with him. "I'm glad you are here, my lady. Are you all right?"

"I owe you my life," Luna managed to say.

"Excuse me?" Amrothos asked, confused by the language she was speaking. Luna did not reply, but instead fainting in his arms.

"What did she say to you?" Another man was next to him.

"I don't know, but we can't just leave her here, Elphir," Amrothos said, answering his eldest brother.

"I know. We should take her back to the palace. Maybe Ada will know what to do with her." Elphir was caressing her cheek. "Poor lass. She is so pretty and young to walk alone so late in the evening."

"Maybe she became lost. Do you think she is of Dol Amroth? I have never seen her before," Amrothos said.

"I don't think so, brother. She seems foreign and her dress is strange," Elphir answered.

"Like her bag and her shoes," said Amrothos, looking at her items.

"Yes, you are right. Well let's go home." The two brothers separated a little. "Form out, men!"

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**Note: ** Oh, here you are! Now you can send me a review or a cyber tomato, please? :)


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE:** Thanks again to Lady Demiya and her awesome edit! :D

**Remember:** Flashback until you find **/.../** again.

* * *

**The following day…**

When Luna woke up, she found herself laying on a bed with white sheets and blue blankets with silver embroidery. However, one interesting thing Luna found herself feeling was her hostility towards the colour blue, and the pale blue dress she was wearing, which seemed to be some sort of nightdress.

"Oh, this is great. Wait, where is my underwear? Who dressed me?" said Luna, feeling quite nervous and panicky.

Luna looked about her and soon noticed that she was not alone in the room. There was another person - a woman in her late thirties or maybe her early forties, wearing a navy blue dress with her hair tied up with a ribbon matching the colour of her dress.

"Shall I call the Lord, my lady?" said the woman, with a soft smile.

"Excuse me?" Luna asked, confused. But the woman left the room. "Please wait!" But it was too late. Luna was now alone in the room, and looking around the bed. _"Why is everything blue here? Don't they know any other colour?"_ Besides the shades of blue, the only other colours she saw were silver, black, and white.

She saw her bag on a chair and immediately climbed out of the large bed and walked over to it _"Here you are sweet bag with my phone inside!"_

Luna grabbed her phone and opened the contacts. _"Mum… Mum's number… Why have I never tried to memorise mum's number?" _She returned to the bed and sat on the edge. She attempted to call, but the phone kept telling her she did not have a signal.

Suddenly, Luna heard three loud knocks on the door. Realising the situation she was in, Luna felt her heart beginning to race. She still had no idea where she was, or who had found her on the beach. Thinking of the beach made her stomach turn. Her mind did not seem ready to get passed those retched men who had attacked her.

"Come in!" Luna called, but the door did not open. "… Come in!"

When the door finally opened, five men entered the room, accompanied by a young woman. Four of the men had black hair and grey eyes, like the woman, who was with them. One of the men was old, well not old, but he was older than the others were. Luna thought that he could be the father of the other black haired ones. The other man was blonde and had the deepest brown eyes she had never seen.

"Good morning, my lady," said the eldest man.

"…Hello?" Luna asked, bewildered be the language the man before her was speaking. The thoughts of her friends playing a trick on her were dispersing. She began to wonder if she was now a victim of kidnapping, or worse. The man smiled. "Hey, I was trying to call my mum, but I don't have a signal here, do you know why?" Luna was desperate to get home or at least contact someone who could help or find her. The people in the room looked at each other, but said nothing. Luna was waving her phone in front of them.

"What is she saying?" This time Amrothos was talking - the man who had saved her life. He went over to the bed and sat next to her, smiling.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked.

At first, Luna felt concerned when he came closer, but then recognised him from the beach. He was the one who had saved her from those horrible men. Without thinking, Luna wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him, feeling relieved when he embraced her in response.

"Amrothos wasn't it?" said Luna, smiling at the man.

"You remember me! What is your name?" Amrothos asked, feeling somewhat delighted that he was making progress in communication with this mysterious girl. When he and Elphir had returned with her, their father was perplexed by her appearance. Her clothes and contents of her bag were mystifying. Nobody had come to claim the young woman as a relative or a friend. It seemed that nobody in Dol Amroth knew who she was, or where she come from.

Luna gave Amrothos a cute confused face, so he placed his hands on his chest. "Amrothos," he said, and then placed his hands on her chest. "You?"

"Luna," she replied, trying to think of which language he was speaking.

"Is Luna your name? Good! It is a lovely name," Amrothos said, smiling.

The young woman walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down, smiling at Luna.

"I'm Lothíriel," she said, pointing at herself. She then pointed at Amrothos and the two other young, dark-haired men. "They are my brothers."

Luna thought herself right - they were family, or so it seemed, since Lothíriel was smiling sweetly at the three men.

"He is our father," she continued, pointing at the eldest man with the same smile. Finally, Lothiriel pointed towards the blonde one.

"This is... Eomer," Lothiriel said. "He is the King of Rohan." She smiled at the man and Luna could see the sparkles in Lothíriel's eyes.

Amrothos' sister took Luna's hands in hers. "Where are you from?" she asked gently.

Luna began to understand that this kind woman was asking her something important, and after frowning in thought about the meaning of the woman's words, Luna arrived at the conclusion that maybe Lothiriel wanted to know where she came from, or what the hell was she doing on the beach. Luna stood up, went over to her bag, and grabbed her notebook and pen.

"What is she doing?" asked Elphir. Everybody was by her side, looking down at her notebook. "She is drawing!"

Exactly. She was drawing something, like a cartoon girl with a big head, big eyes and tiny body - but cute. More than that, she was drawing a girl with her belongings.

"She is drawing herself, brother," said the other brother who was not Amrothos.

"Here you are at home? What happened next?" Amrothos asked.

Then she drew the same girl dancing with many people around her, and then she drew the girl sleeping in a strange place.

"I think she is trying to say that she was at a party and then she was sleeping on… I don't know where," Amrothos continued.

Luna understood that Amrothos was translating her drawings to his family, but he could not make out what was the place where she was sleeping. Luna grabbed Amrothos by his arm and walked him to the window, pointing outside.

"But of course!" Amrothos said, feeling excited that they were making progress. "She was at a party, then something happened to her and she woke up on the beach!"

Luna simply nodded. She wasn't sure what he had said, but it sounded something similar to her history.

Luna took the notebook again and drew one more thing - She draws herself again and a sketch of the room she was in with a question mark.

"Maybe she is wandering where she is," Eomer said, and the others exchanged a look with him and Luna.

"You are in Dol Amroth," said the father. "I'm Prince Imrahil, and you are in my house. You are my guest here. My sons found you."

Then she started to draw again. This time she drew Amrothos with those other men killing the ugly men. Amrothos laughed and pointed at himself on the paper

"It is me! I love it!" He laughed again and asked her for the pen. "Look, here is my brother, Elphir with his sword. He is killing corsairs!" said Amrothos. He was drawing a man, and then pointed at his brother with his free hand. Luna exploded into a laugh and everybody smiled at her. "_That is a strange thing… We do not use that kind of quill," _he thought, looking at the pen in his hand.

"I think that she should get something to eat. She has been sleeping for almost a day; if I was her, I would be very hungry. Brother, can you ask her if she is hungry?" Lothíriel asked, looking into Erchirion's grey eyes while saying this.

"Why should it be me, sister? She can't understand me," said the second son of Imrahil. The look in his sister's eyes was all he needed to answer his own question.

"Luna," he said, a little uncomfortably.

Luna stopped laughing with Amrothos and looked at Erchirion. "_Wow! She is so pretty… Get a grip, Erchirion!" _He almost forgot his words, but managed to ask her if she was hungry.

"Hungry?" Luna repeated, frowning, but when Amrothos drew an apple on her notebook, she smiled. "Oh yes! I'm hungry! And I want an apple - I love apples with salt."

Lothíriel took her hand and the two girls walked outside the room.

"What do you think about her, Ada?" asked Elphir, when the door closed.

"I think you did well bringing Luna back here. But I am not sure what we are supposed to do with her." Imrahil sighed. "Maybe she can stay with us until she can express herself in our language. We can help her with that."

"Well… that could take months, ada! Are you sure of it?" Elphir's voice sounded surprised, but not angry. Nor was he opposed to his father's idea.

"Yes, Elphir, I'm sure of my words."

Amrothos picked up Luna's notebook. "She is a great artist. But her drawings are… strange." He smiled, looking at the drawing of himself with his sword, saving Luna from the corsair's hands.

"Aye, brother... But look at you! You drew Elphir in Luna's style, or something similar… And the drawing is good, but you must practice your apples!" said Erchirion, teasing his brother, while taking the notebook from his hands.

"Shut up, Erchirion! My apples are good enough – it is you and your lack of art sense."


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE:** I did not thought it would take _that _long since the last upload, but my beta is busy with studies stuff -the same as me! so it could take another long time without uploading. I'm sorry! so I uploaded a -little- longer chapter this time!

**Remember:** this is still a flashback until you find **/.../** again!

* * *

During the following days, Luna started to learn the strange idiom used by the people around her. By the grace of fate, and Amrothos, her first word was 'apple'. Luna also proved herself a good student with languages, since she was able to speak fluent Westron by the third month.

At the end of the third month, Prince Imrahil summoned Luna to his study. At first, she felt rather nervous, even though the Lord of Dol Amroth had always been pleasant and kind to her. She explained where she came from; the name of her country and the language they spoke.

At first, Prince Imrahil was shocked and had begun to believe that she was some crazy woman abandoned by her family. So Luna decided to show him the contents of her bag. She knew they would not have phones in Middle-earth, or the type of make-up she used. After some rather hard convincing, Luna believed she had finally convinced Prince Imrahil that she was not from... well Middle-earth!

"And this is my favourite object of the entire world - my phone!" said Luna happily.

"What is that? Is it a common thing in 'Barcelona'?" asked Amrothos, a little puzzled. Luna smiled to him and talked again.

"Yes it is! It is a very common item in almost all my 'world'. Many people have one; it is so useful! We use it to talk to people while they are far away…"

"Are you saying that _this_ object could do such an important thing? You cannot be serious." Elphir's voice showed his puzzlement, his brothers agreed with him.

"Aye, I'm serious! The only problem right now is the lack of receptor to my phone; I cannot call without any receptor. So now I only can see pictures and my videos, oh, and listen to my music! Do you want to hear some music of my home place?" Luna evil grin betrayed her innocent voice. The first song played was one of _Dire Strait_'s and Luna started to sing "_You get a shiver in the dark, it's raining in the park but meantime; south of the river you stop and you hold everything…_ It is called 'Sultans of swing' do you like it?"

"It is strange, but isn't unpleasant. I think I may ask you how it works, but I think that it could be much easier for everybody if anybody asks you about it. So do you have more music inside that?" Prince Imrahil's firm voice was the trigger to another hour or two with music. They enjoyed a few songs and disliked another few more, but seeing Luna singing at it made them smile.

After some days, Luna and Amrothos started to tak walks by the seashore. Amrothos began explaining the area in which she was now in. Luna began to remember the large and rather complex story she had once read – well her brother had read to her. A story that had also been turned into a popular movie trilogy; movies that she had seen and loved. Luna did not know what to think. At times, she wanted to tell them everything she knew... or could remember, but something inside of her was telling her to keep her mouth shut!

Perhaps it was a good idea... at least for now until she knew that these people were not going to lock her up for being some crazy woman!

* * *

When Luna was able to understand Westron, Elphir suggested teaching her Sindarin. This made Luna really excited! She had always wanted to speak the language of the Elves since she heard Liv Tyler talking in it. During her lessons, Luna felt a little silly when she discovered that her lessons would be shared with Elphir's young son, Alphros. Of course she loved children and loved that little boy with his wooden sword, but her lessons went slow because of him.

"I agree with Luna, Prince Elphir, your son is an intelligent boy, but he is only four and needs his own time to understand things that she could understand in only five minutes. If you don't mind, I would prefer to teach them Sindarin, but not together," said Cormac, who was responsible of Luna and Alphros' lessons. He was an old, short man with white hair and a long beard matching his eyebrows.

"I understand, and I found it quite acceptable. I thought that if they shared lessons, it would be easier for you. But if you say that you can manage, I will not deny it to you." Elphir's decision became a fact the next day.

"Can I ask one more thing?" Luna asked. The two men looked at her and nodded. "When I was five, I started to learn music, and I've been playing music since then. Can I retake my music lessons here? I do not want to forget how to read the music score."

"Which instrument do you play? We have a fair few of them in our music room. Lothíriel can play the harp, but you would be lucky if you did not hear her. Believe me, poor girl! She always tried, but it was not her strong subject," said Elphir, smiling in his own thoughts.

"I play the violin! Do you have violins here?" When Elphir showed her those incredible instruments, she wanted to cry of joy! In her time, those kind of violins were the most expensive and almost matched the Stradivari ones. But now, in Dol Amroth, they allowed her to play with any violin she could find.

Luna became Lothíriel's friend quickly; they both had many things in common. She became another Amrothos' partner in crime and another little sister to Elphir. Luna did not talk to Erchirion often, because he was always on patrols with Elphir or doing something else that seemed to keep him away from the palace.

Not long after Luna had arrived... or appeared in Dol Amroth, none other than Lord Faramir himself arrived to visit his family. Luna felt rather overwhelmed meeting him, and was rather amazed at how different and jest Faramir could behave. It was something that was never mentioned in the books – less in the movies!

In almost six months, Luna was a fluent Westron speaker and quite a fluent Sindarin speaker.

Luna was now another girl of the court of Prince Imrahil, and had her own routine - mornings were spent Practising Sindarin and violin lessons. Then she had lunch with Lothíriel, and the afternoons were spent with Lothíriel gossiping or taking horses to ride to the beach. Despite being accepted by the people of Dol Amroth, Luna still had a sense of loneliness. She missed her family back home. Her mother especially. Not a day went by for Luna without her thinking about what her mother was doing. Was she launching a campaign to find her missing daughter? Or perhaps a memorials service had already taken place. Such thoughts made Luna worry until she felt sick.

One day, Luna was sitting on a chair near the window of the library, lost in her thoughts while watching the sea. She was so lost in thought that she did not hear the footsteps of Erchirion until he spoke to her.

"A beautiful view, don't you think?" asked Erchirion. Luna was taken off guard; she never thought about Erchirion talking to her.

"Yes. I love the ocean; it reminds me of home…" she said, trailing off.

"So do you have an ocean near your home?" Erchirion took another chair and sat next to her. "Were you thinking about your people?"

"Yes, I have an ocean near my home. Well, I could not see the ocean from my windows, but I spent a lot of time at the beach with my friends and family. And yes, I was thinking about home. I was wondering what my family would be doing right now… if they missed me. I was also thinking about my life here. Your family has been so kind to me, even when you did not know me. I thank you all of you for that." Luna was not looking at him, so she could not see his smile.

"Do you mind telling me about your family? I'm rather interested about your life before you arrived here."

"Oh, yes, if you have the time. But I have to warn you, I can speak a lot sometimes." She looked at him and smiled sweetly, with her eyes sparkling. "My family is not a big one. I only have my mum and my brother, but my mum has been remarried for seven years. I have a stepfather and a stepsister, too. About my real father, I can't say much; he left my mother when I was only a baby, and I don't know anything about him in my eighteen years. I really don't care, so don't look so sad at me! I had a childhood full of joy!"

"But he left your mother with small children! What kind of man is this? Oh my! I would gladly wring his neck!" His eyes were blazing in rage

"Yes, I do not doubt it! My brother would too!" She laughed lightly. "But remember what I said – My mum, my lovely mama, is happy with her new husband and his daughter; she loves her family greatly and in the past, she gave everything for my brother and me. She's the strongest woman I've never knew."

It eased his mood a little. "How did your mother meet your stepfather?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Well, my mum is a photographer. That is a kind of artist. And he is a fashion designer, so they met when my mum went to take photos of his designs for a magazine, which is something like a book."

"That is quite interesting," Erchirion said, with a slight frown. Luna suspected he was still trying to fully understand the place where she had come from. "Would you be so kind and accompany me to the courtyard? We can speak more freely there." He stood up and extended his hand to her. Luna happily took his hand and started to walk with him to the courtyard.

Since that day, Luna began to spend time with Erchirion, and enjoyed his company.

Since that day, Luna began to spend time with Erchirion, and enjoyed his company. They both would take long walks, sometimes with his brothers or sister, and on a few occasions, with his father. When the family was not with them, there was always his guard.

Some weeks later, they were at the beach together. It was almost midday and the sun was shining brightly over them when something came to Luna's mind. Why could they (not) can't be alone? Was she the only one who realised that?

"Is Dol Amroth a dangerous place?" asked Luna casually.

"No, usually it is not. Sometimes we have quarrels with the corsairs, but it is a safe place. Why?" Erchirion was sitting on a beach wrap – or so it seemed, while Luna was picking shells near him; he had promised to make her a necklace with them.

"Because, we have never been alone, and I was wondering if it was because you need security. You, well, we always have two or more soldiers near us! I thought it was because you're a prince and they have to protect you if something happens, but if you say that we are not in danger… Then why?"

She went and sat next to him, looking directly in his eyes. She could swear he had pink cheeks!

"Well, it is not that. It is true that I have my personal guard, but if I wish to, I can go by myself without them. When _we_ take walks, they have to come with us, because it is not proper." Erchirion was smiling sweetly at her, and took one of her locks and tucked it behind her ear, resting his hand on her cheek, caressing it.

"What is not proper?" She matched his smile and her voice became softer, like silk.

"We are not proper. You are a woman and I'm a man, we are not related, nor married, so the protocol says that we cannot be left alone."

"Oh! I never thought of this!" Luna laughed, thinking about how different life was here. "So they come with us to ensure that we do not do improper things?" Erchirion nodded. "But what the hell is an improper thing? I mean… We could do a lot of things, but what is improper and what not? Well, obviously if we have sex it is improper, but we rather have it in your chamber or mine instead of the beach and all this sand, no?" Luna was blushing furiously after she realised her example of improper things. "Oh," Luna said, realising what she had just spoken aloud. "You see... where I come from, people talk about _these_ things freely... and umm... I kind of forgot my place..."

Erchirion looked at her and his eyes turned darker – his usual pearl grey became almost charcoal grey, but he kept his gaze on her and moved closer.

"We could do a lot of _improper_ things in the sand, I swear to you. But I agree with you about having intercourse on a bed." Suddenly his husky voice became clearer and he shook his head. "Are you making a proposal, my dear Luna?" he teased her.

* * *

**NOTE:** Maybe I'm cruel leaving the chapter like this?... Nope! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Note:** I'm so sorry for the waiting but I was very overworked, and my beta is also a busy girl! I hope you'll enjoy this.

A few days ago I've started to read a manga (shojo, of course!) called 'Dengeki Daisy' about a girl whose brother and parents are dead and the only person who cares for her is a man whose she doesn't know his true identity, only knows him by his nickname: Daisy... -I want to recommend this manga to anybody who likes funny shojo manga instead of the usually corny staff, I know for sure that you wouldn't regret read this comic.

Also I want to thank my beta to help me with my fic -as always- and also for help me to get that awesome great mark in English! :D and thanks to my faithful reader Tiara for her lovelies feedbacks and privates and for publish her first Spanish fic dedicating it to me! :D

* * *

"What? You must be joking! I will never make such a proposal to you!" Luna said loudly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Erchirion was leaning so close to her, that she could feel his warm breath against her face, making her feel a tingling sensation flow through her body. Improper indeed! She knew she was blushing – her face felt like it was on fire. Luna stood up before anything happened between them that would cause the guards watching them to step in.

"It's getting late," she said. "Should we be heading back?

Luna saw waves of disappointment in his eyes, but he nodded, standing up also. "Come," he said, offering his arm, "I shall escort you back to your chamber."

They started walking along the shore, letting the waves touch their feet. Their walk was held with an awkward silence; they pretended that nothing had happened.

When they reached Luna's chamber door, Erchirion grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. Luna was amazed by his actions. Nobody had ever kissed her knuckles before. It was... odd. Still, she felt herself blushing.

"What was that for?" she asked.

Erchirion grinned cheekily. "A small gesture to make sure you think of a certain man who is quite fond of you."

Luna's eyes widened slightly. "Oh..." Without a second thought, Luna quickly opened her door and slid into her room before she said something she would regret.

Luna's face felt as if it were on fire. She walked over to the chair near the window. She sat down and lost her gaze at the sea in front of her, and thought about that man who was driving her crazy with his proximity; the man with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen – sea-grey! They were grey without any kind of blue or green, only grey like shimmering pearls.

A few weeks ago, she would never have imagined that Erchirion and she would be friends, not to say that they would be more than friends – not that they were, were they? No… or yes? Luna has never been in love before, so she could not quite compare her feelings for him with any previous feelings. How she wished her brother was here! He had always been there for her, telling her what to do since she was very young, and now she found herself lost in a palace by the sea, living with the royal family of Dol Amroth - of all the places in the world - she was in Middle-earth! What would Hans say if he found out that his little sister was in Middle-earth, befriending his beloved heroes? Probably, he would glare at her and say 'It's not fair, I'm older than you!' and then they would start a siblings fight – which he would let her win, of course.

Luna sighed and wrapped her arms around herself – she missed her brother so much, and her mother… even her stupid fat cat who always ignored her! She missed her home, her friends, her ice creams…

But then again, she was having so much fun in here! She felt more herself here than in Barcelona, even if she was not allowed to walk around without escort, and her dresses were that long – just the other day she almost tripped with her dress and fell to the floor, thanks god that Amrothos had caught her! She then decided that she would find some leggings to wear instead of those long dresses with stupid flowery patterns. She missed her bras - lucky for her, that she was wearing one when arrived in Dol Amroth because life without them is not an easy thing.

Luna stood up and walked to the door, finding Lothíriel was in her mind, until she tripped on her dress and collided with some giant wall in the shape of a man.

"Bloody aw!" said Luna, rubbing her nose; the man only chuckled. "It is not funny, Elphir! You could have broken my nose…"

"I'm not that strong, my dear… not yet." And he grinned widely. "I was on my way to you room."

"Why?" asked Luna, frowning.

"I was going to ask you if you would like to join Lothíriel in her dancing lessons. I'm pretty sure you will be better than her, not that it is a difficult thing to achieve, though," said Elphir, laughing. "I'm sorry, but I cannot help laughing at her, she is not quite the damsel she should be, maybe it is a consequence of being raised with only men… I hope she will find a man who doesn't care for her dancing skills."

The prince and Luna walked throug the corridors until they reach a large door at the end of the third hallway. It was dark with swans carved in the frame, and lead into a hall with musicians, where Lothíriel was dancing with Amrothos under the lead of an old woman dressed all in black. In the hall were also six cats running through the dancers' legs, making them nervous.

"That woman over there is our Aunt Ivriniel, the eldest sister of our father. She likes to teach dancing to Lothíriel when she comes to visit us. She also brings her cats, like always. Never, and I repeat, NEVER shout at the cats or say they have done anything wrong, or she will have your head on a silver plate. Ask Amrothos if you don't believe me," Said Elphir, looking at the expression on Luna's face. Then the musicians stopped the music and Lothíriel walked to them, followed by Amrothos, and Ivriniel on his heels.

"Luna dear! Weren't you with Erchirion?" Lothíriel's words made Luna blush, but fortunately it was only seen by Lothíriel who smiled and said: "We will talk later." The two princes shared a look as if saying 'about what?' but Lothíriel ignored them. "Aunt Ivriniel, this is Lady Luna. I'm sure my father told you about her! Amrothos and Elphir found Luna on the beach being attacked by corsairs, but they saved her and brought her here. She is a good friend of Erchirion, also."

"Of course my brother told me about her! But he never said she was _that_ beautiful. I can understand why Erchirion enjoys her company so much. I was wondering when he would choose a girl to wed him… are you a maiden?" Aunt Ivriniel had a stern look in her eyes and her smile was almost imperceptible, but there it was, her voice sounded strong.

"Aunt Ivriniel!" shouted the three siblings, looking at their aunt with wide eyes and blushed cheeks. Luna blushed bright red and wasn't able to say a word.

"Aunt Ivriniel, you shouldn't go asking young girls if they are maidens, unless you want them to blush and feel uncomfortable," said Erchirion, walking inside the room, making Luna blush again. His presence was only what Luna needed to feel her heart running faster and her voice to grow almost unheard…

"_What the hell has he done to me?"_ thought Luna. _"Where has my voice gone? Where is my heart trying to go? Why can I stop thinking about that stupid look in his eyes or that stupid kiss on my hand? If only Hans was here… my wise brother, where are you when I need you?"_

"Luna, Luna!" Amrothos' voice brought Luna to reality. "Where were you? I was talking to you!"

"I-I'm sorry… I got lost in my thought…"

"Thinking about your virginity?" said Amrothos, earning a glare from the others and a deathly one from a blushing Luna. "It was only a jest! I was asking if you wanted to learn to dance."

"Oh, yes, sure! I would love to! I was a good dancer back at home, but our dances are very different!" Luna sounded excited and the three men shared a look of complicity and smiled. Of course the knew Luna loved to dance, they had seen her dance when she showed them her music, she followed well with the rhythm and her movements were shy, but she looked so at ease that they didn't say anything and enjoyed her expression.

"Yes, we know…" said Elphir, while Amrothos and Erchirion sniggered.

"What do you know?" asked Lothíriel, feeling outside of the joke – if there was one.

"Nothing. You should start dancing if you want Luna to learn, don't you think?" Elphir was fighting against his own laughter and covered it with a cough, making his brothers start laughing hysterically, resting on each other's shoulders. "Less laughter and more dancing, you idiots!" And with that, he sat in a chair near the one occupied by his aunt.

At first Amrothos danced with Luna showing her the steps: first of all the salutation where the woman and man make a reverence before starting the dance, the second was one step left and then one to the right, they had to do this six times making a compass of 6/4 – or so thought Luna. The thirds step was three steps to the front, and stop holding the left hand, then they did one step back and came again to hold the left hand, then repeated all from third step but changing the left hand with the right, they did it two times before start with the fourth step, which was where the man twirled the woman before starting all the choreography again.

"You're quite good at this, Luna!" said Amrothos cheerfully.

"No, I'm not… I will forget all the choreography in five minutes! Why are your dances so complicated? Even my ballet choreographies were much easier than this!" said Luna, making the sibling laugh. Aunt Ivriniel had gone for a walk with Elphir before dinner and the musicians were talking about how they could make the song to sound better.

"'Ballet choreography?' What do you mean?" asked Amrothos, walking to Erchirion and Lothíriel - they had finished the dance too and were listening to Luna.

"You don't know what 'The Swan Lake' is, do you? Well, it is a famous musical piece and it was so complicated to learn the choreography… well it was difficult for me! I've never danced anything more complicated than that, but it was awesome when I was able to dance it without errors. It is so beautiful!"

The musicians were dismissed by Erchirion, leaving the four of them alone with Ivriniel's cats in the hall. "Here, let me show you!" Luna took her phone out of the pocket of her dress and opened the reproducer with 'Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake'. "I'll only do the solo of the White Swan. I'll tell you the story later, don't worry!" And with that, she ran to the very centre of the hall and left the phone on the floor, the music sounding loud.

At first Luna's feet were flat on the floor and her heels were touching while her arms made two different arcs: the right arm was above her head making an arc over her head and the left one was making an arc to her back that one could tie a thread from her wrist to her hip and it would be at the same level. Then

she brought her arms slowly to her front and crossed them with the left above the right and separated them again making two arcs at her sides and pointing up her right leg which went down fast again.

Luna's dress was made with cotton and the sleeves were tight and reached only until her forearm, the skirt of the dress reached only until her ankles so her movements were made easily and the dress followed, making pretty twirls around her arms and legs. Luna then tiptoed and started making short steps: one to the front, on to the back and when she had done this four times started to insert tiptoes with flat feet on the floor making little hops each time she went with the tiptoes. Her arms moving around her as if she was a butterfly batting her wings to fly.

The siblings were lost at Luna's soft movements and the beautiful music spread across the room. Her movements were something never seen before by them and the music was something that could never be compared with something they had listened before. It was simple awesome! Lothíriel's eyes were getting wet with the emotion that filled up her entire body, and her brothers were charmed by the choreography. Suddenly, Luna stopped and turned off the music.

"I cannot do more without more dancers, I'm sorry."

"Luna dear! It was beautiful! Does everybody dance like this in your home?" asked Lothíriel, wiping her tears away and taking the handkerchief offered by Amrothos.

"No, not really. It is called 'cassical dance'.I know it because I used to go to lessons until I was twelve -so did it for eight years! Then I started with another kind of dance like 'belly dance' and stuff like that. I also learnt waltz." When Luna finished, the door opened and a young girl entered the hall asking for Lothíriel and Amrothos to go with her, leaving Luna and Erchirion alone.

"Your dancing was really beautiful, Luna. But then, my mother used to say 'beautiful girls usually do beautiful things', and now I think she was right," said Erchirion, getting close to her with his eyes full of charcoal grey again instead of his usual pearl colour. Luna took a step back, but tripped on a tawny-coloured slipping cat. Erchirion caught her by the waist and pulled her close to his chest, resting his chin on her hair. "You should be more careful, my dear lady."

"Oh, please shut it! I'm starting to hate cats." Luna could feel Erchirion's chuckle on his chest -it made her smile. "Now let me go, ple-"

"No, I prefer this…" Erchirion took half step back and looked into Luna's turquoise eyes and smiled when he saw her blushed face. She looked quite lovely, more beautiful than before; he loved her blush when it was a reaction to him or his actions.

One more thing and she would be the most beautiful girls in all Middle-earth. It was something relates to her soft lips. He didn't know what exactly, but he had to do something! Maybe he could… yes, he could do it… but then he shouldn't… but he wasn't strong enough when it came to Luna, so he leaned down and took her lips in his. He could feel her body stiffen in his arms, and how she tried to release herself of his grasp, but she couldn't, so Luna started to relax and returned his kiss, soft and sweet.

"I-I'm sorry…" said Erchirion, when they broke apart for air, "I don't know what happened, I just only kissed you without thinking too much and -"

"What do you want of me, Erchirion?" asked Luna, looking right inside his eyes.

"I-I… I don't know…" sighed Erchirion, looking down at her, frowning slightly.

"Then don't kiss me again, please." They stayed there, looking at each other for what seemed ages until Luna spoke again. "Shouldn't we be going down to dinner?"

"Yes, I guess we should… may I offer my arm to you?"

"Yes, of course!" smiled Luna, hooking her arm on Erchirion's. Luna spoke again moments before entering the dinning hall where the royal family and the court were waiting for the food to be served. "Erchirion, that kiss… it will not make us feel awkward now? I would love to continue with our walks and talks."

"It will not, my dear Luna. You will not use that as an excuse to not get up early tomorrow and go to the beach with me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Note:** Thanks again to my beta and her patience, she's really awesome! Now, this chapter starts right after Luna left the party of the first chapter... If you didn't notice all the previous chapters were a flashback of Luna's arrival to Middle-Earth, okay? Now is the present story. Remember that wherever you see **_/.../_** will be a flashback, and this mark will indicate the start and the end of it. Enjoy and review, please!

* * *

**/…/**

But now, Luna is alone, thinking about Erchirion, and how his behaviour could have changed. It had been only a couple of weeks since he was searching excuses to stay with her, but since the arrival of the court of Minas Tirith to celebrate Prince Imrahil's birthday, he refused to stay alone with her. But Why?

She was too lost in her thoughts to realise the footsteps approaching her until they spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," said Luna. Her voice was calm, but her words were sharp.

"Luna, please. I'm leaving tomorrow; it's my time to go on patrol with Elphir, but I don't want to go if you are going to stay here angry with me and planning on how you can kill me." Erchirion was trying to make her smile, but she did not want to smile.

"Well, then the next time you will think before you act, sweet prince of mine." Luna stood up and started to walk back inside the palace. "May God protect you, Erchirion."

The next morning, right after down, the Swan Knights were gone.

"My lady is time for you to wake up," said Luna's handmaid, with a warm smile dancing across her face.

"I think I a need a bath, Dida," said Luna, sleepily.

"Yes, I thought you would, so your bath is already prepared, my sweet child." Dida was a woman in her late fifties. She was a mother of two boys and one girl, and she was a grandmother of three little boys and two girls.

Luna went to her private bathroom. Her thoughts were of the previous night, and what Erchirion had done with that other woman. Never before had she felt her heart betrayed. She slipped her clothes off and got into the tub. When she lived in Barcelona, she used to take a bath twice a day, but now she can only take one bath a day, if she is lucky, but sometimes Dida lets her take another quick bath before she goes to sleep. For that small gesture of kindness, Luna was so grateful.

Luna always had a love for scent oils in the bath, and when she knew that she could use similar scent oils that she was used to in Barcelona, she was the happiest girl in all of Arda.

* * *

Somewhere along Bay of Belfalas - 3020 T.A.

Erchirion was trotting his stallion, Heledir along the grasslands that lined the ocean cliffs.

He felt guilty. He felt very guilty for his behaviour towards his beloved girl, but he could not do anything to fix it right now. He could only can wait to go back to Dol Amroth.

The soft breeze brought earthly smells to him. Growing, green grass, blooming flowers and the first fruits on the trees. Also, it brought the smell of lavender to him. The wind whipped around his cloak, making it smells of lavender. It bought a smile to his face. He had a fondness for flowers since ever because his mother used to wear their scent in her hair, it reminded him of her – poppies the most. His favourite flower had been red poppy, until now his new favourite flower had become lavender, because it reminded him of those sweet moments with his new sweet girl; even if she was angry with him right now. Still, he could not help but remember...

**/…/**

It was a cold day, but Erchirion wanted to go for a walk with Luna along the seashore. It had been two days since their last walk by the beach, when they had talked about 'improper things'. It had led to their awkward time, but now they were pretending nothing had happened.

"Okay, I think I'm freezing!" laughed Luna, making Erchirion smile at her while she started running towards the water.

"Where are you going?" he yelled, but he got no answer before he saw Luna undressing herself and entering into the sea. "Luna, are you crazy? Come back!"

"No! I'll be fine! Come in with me, Chirion!"

Erchirion walked towards the voice, but he didn't want to get inside the cold water. His face changed into an expression of surprise when he saw Luna running towards him, into his arms, saying that she was frozen. Then he smiled and embraced her.

"What were you thinking? Your lips are purple! We better get you back to the palace, don't you think?"

She nodded and looked up into his eyes while he wrapped his cloak around her shoulders.

"I'm feeling like a penguin. Do you know what a penguin is?" He shook his head "Oh! It's a kind of bird, but penguins cannot fly, and they live in the cold weather… So I'm a penguin, Chirion!" she said, shivering, but smiling.

"No, you're stupid. It is not the same, sorry." Luna slapped his arm and started laughing with him.

**/…/**

"Sire! We found tracks over there," said one Swan Knight, pointing west.

"Very well. Tell my brother that I am going west to check. We will meet at camp." The young knight nodded and went to relay the message to Elphir.

"Erchirion, are you okay?" asked the knight next to him.

"Yes. Thank you, Tybalt." Those were the last words of the prince until he rode west with his men.

* * *

Dol Amroth, 23rd February

Luna was reading a story to Alphros, when Faramir came into the library with Éowyn.

"Alphros, your mama is waiting for you. It is time for you to go and clean up before lunch. Now, come with me," said the white lady, smiling at the child. They both went out of the room, leaving Faramir and Luna alone. He sat in a chair next to her.

"How are you?" She shrugged. "Erchirion told me that he would go and talk to you, did he?"

"Yes, he did. Actually, he tried, but I left him and went to my chamber. When I woke up today, he was gone with Elphir and the Swan Knights." Luna's eyes were getting a little wet, but her face stood without any emotions.

"I see. When they come back, you will listen to him and tell him about your feelings - your last night's feeling, I mean. It is clear, dear Penguin?" Faramir smiled to her, and she returned him a wide smile.

"Oh! Do you know the penguin story?" Her face was bright like her eyes and she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"More or less; my cousin showed me your drawings - you are quite good with art, Luna! May I ask you something?"

"But of course! Anything you want!" She turned in her chair to look at him more clearly.

"What did you before you came here? I mean, you said that you came from a different 'world'. Since that day, I wanted to know more about your 'world'. I hope you don't mind if I ask you about it." Faramir felt relief when he saw Luna smile again.

"Do not worry, big brother – do you mind if I call you that? You're like a second older brother to me right now!" He nodded, smiling and then she started again. "I was a student; I just finished my last grade before university and started my summer holidays. I also enjoyed dancing – I started dancing lessons at the age of five until, well, now, and I also played the violin! I used to go to art lessons when I was a child. I don't know what more I can say… I was happy enough with my life; my brother sometimes said that I was a blondie."

Then she realised that he did not know how 'blondie' could be an insult. "Yes, I know that here you don't use 'blondie' as an insult, but in my 'world' we use this word to talk about a silly person. Don't ask me why, because I don't know." She laughed.

"You lived in a strange place, Luna. But tell me more! What about that strange object? I think you called it a 'phone'." Faramir was supporting his head on his hands without breaking the eye contact with Luna. His eyes showed his amusement at the things that the girl was telling him.

"Yes, a phone! It is an object that you can use to talk with other people, who have another one. For example, if you have a phone and go to Rohan, and I have another phone, then I can call you and talk to you through it while staying in Dol Amroth."

His eyes widened in astonishment. "Yes, it is a little strange, but in my home it is normal and almost everybody has one, or maybe two or more! You know the main difference between our societies?" Faramir shook his head. "In my society, men and women are equals and have the same rights. We can find people who are against that, but there are more who thinks that we must be equals, so it is! Actually, we do not use long dresses anymore! Well, not usually and not every women. I used to wear trousers, leggings, and boots! Or high heels or short dresses like the one I wore when I arrived here."

"So in your world, I would be able to dress (n male clothes and going to the war?" Éowyn was entering the library and had overheard Luna's explanation. She sat at Luna's other side.

"Yes! But in my 'world', you would fight in a war, but not for honour, and not to defend your home. Sometimes the soldiers don't know why they are fighting! It's a shame…"


	6. Chapter 6

"**Dor-en-Ernil," 13TH March**

The Swan Knights had been in Dor-en-Ernil for almost two weeks, searching for any signs of Corsair tracks. They found a few of them and a little party too; the fight was quick as Corsairs were not skilled warriors inland, unlike the men of Dol Amroth.

Although there weren't many problems, and the men were fairing well. Prince Elphir, the eldest of the Imrahil's sons, was worried for his brother. Erchirion was a good soldier – Some people thought he to be he best of the three princes; his ability with sword was well known all around Gondor. But in the last combat, he lost his sword and let one Corsair hurt his arm! Elphir tried to talk with him but –as everybody knows - talking with Erchirion when he is not in the mood is the most similar experience as talking to a wall. He wouldn't listen to you, just stare at the ground or the ceiling and then go away.

"So have you tried to talk to him again, Elphir?" asked Tybalt, one of the Swan Knights and also a childhood friend of the princes.

"Aye, but he wouldn't listen… as always."

"His mind is in Dol Amroth. Did you hear about his argument with Luna?" Elphir nodded. The morning they had left the city, Erchirion went to Luna's chamber to bid her goodbye. Obviously, she was still asleep since she was one to sleep in, and it was pretty early in the morning. But his brother went and stopped right in front of her room. He did not enter; only stared at the door as if he could see beyond the wood, and then he left.

That strange behaviour of Erchirion had made Elphir wonder what had happened between them, and it was perfect timing when he found Faramir talking to his father about it.

"What are you saying about her?" Erchirion was standing there right in front of them, glaring as if someone was attacking him. Elphir and Tybalt shared a glance until the first decided to talk.

"Erchirion we really need to talk. I know you don't want to, but you should _at least_ listen to us! Can't you just wait and see what happens when we arrive back at Dol Amroth? Can't you just forget that argument? She will be over it by the time you see her again!"

"Enough! Don't talk when you don't know anything, Brother." And with that, Erchirion was gone again.

"He really is imposing…" said Tybalt, still looking where his friend was moments ago.

"Aye! Sometimes I think he should be the heir in my stead. Father, Amrothos and Lothíriel sometimes say the same."

"But I'm sure that your lovely wife thinks otherwise, doesn't she?"

"She really does love me, but she was the first to say he would be better heir than me..." Explained the prince, while his friend started laughing.

The next morning a courier arrived at the camp with a letter from Imrahil. In said letter, he explained that Faramir and Lady Éowyn had invited Luna to Minas Tirith because King Aragorn wanted to meet her, and she was taking Lothíriel with her. So he thought that he should go too. It was just to inform them that when Amrothos heard that he was the only one who wasn't going, decided to go too, so it had become a kind of family trip since Nieriel – Elphir's wife - was going there with Alphros, because she didn't want to miss the trip. They were going by ship and would arrive there by the end of the week, so they'll be waiting for the two princes and their soldiers to be in Minas Tirith by then.

"That means that we should get going right now. Erchirion, you take five men and a few supplies and go first. I'll catch you later with the others."

And so they did. Elphir stayed behind to erase any track that someone could follow to find them, while his brother went first to make sure there would be no enemies. It was always like that since the eldest son of Prince Imrahil was the best at erasing tracks, whereas the younger sons were better skilled fighters.

It was noon when sixty swan knights arrived at the walls of Minas Tirith with the two princes at the front. They looked exhausted, but the people of the white city couldn't stop babbling about how handsome they were.

"Why do you suppose southern princes are so handsome? I think it sure may be because of their elvish blood! You know, there are lots of legends about Elves in Dol Amroth!"

"That could be true! You're right; Dol Amroth is well known for being a place with lots of elvish related legends… Do you remember their aunt, Finduilas? How beautiful she was; just like an elf maiden!"

"Of course we do! And now we can see the same beauty in Prince Imrahil's daughter - the Lady Lothíriel is just like one of those elf girls that came for King Elessar's coronation!"

"Yes she is. But have you heard about that other lady who came with her? Rumours said that she is pretty just like an elf; some people call her '_The new pearl of the sea__'_. My sister-in-law is working in the palace and said that she was pretty and more! She is a foreigner, from a far away country they said."

The knights made their way up to the citadel between those whispers and greetings by the people. The princedom family of Dol Amroth was really loved in all Gondor, for they were known for their elegance and sense of justice, so it wasn't anything new to them to be in the middle of that warm welcome.

"My sons are finally here!" shouted an excited Imrahil, walking to embrace his children – they sure were old enough to not be children anymore, but they still were to him.

"Imrahil, my friend, your sons sure need some rest after their long travel. I'm sure they just want to go to their chambers," said King Aragorn – or Elessar, it depended on how close you were to him.

"Thank you, my friend. My brother and I will take your offer with pleasure; just like our men." Elphir nodded to the king and smiled kindly towards his father.

"Yes, that ought to be fine, but don't you want to see your wife and son, Elphir?" asked Imrahil. "They're in the courtyard with Amrothos and Lothíriel."

The four men started walking to the backside of the palace when Aragorn spoke again.

"As I said earlier, Imrahil… I'm really glad that I got to know that girl of yours. Lady Luna is kind of strange, but fairly interesting; all the things she has shown to me and the things she said are fascinating."

"I couldn't agree more with you. I thought she was just crazy when I talked to her for the first time, but she proved me wrong; she's very intelligent, actually!"

"She also is a good student, father."

"Aye to that! Faramir told me about her skills with arts and how she learned two tongues in half a year! Every time I think about her, I find her more interesting. Just this morning Amrothos started to teach her how to use a sword. She couldn't take from the floor, I think she still can't," said Aragorn, with half smile and earning laughs from Imrahil and Elphir. Erchirion just felt out of place, he felt that Amrothos was in a place belonging to him. It felt wrong.

When they arrived at the courtyard, Nieriel was sitting on a bench with Alphros in her lap and Lothíriel was next to her. Faramir was resting his back on a tree, watching Luna with amusement dancing in his eyes, whereas Éowyn was excited next to Amrothos in the middle of the courtyard, so they were just in front of Luna.

The Queen was dressed in black leggings and boots with a long pale, blue shirt with a belt on her waist. She was holding a sword made to be hold by a man, so it wasn't hers but Amrothos' . Luna was dressed in leggings as well, but she was wearing the white, short dress she wore when she arrived in Dol Amroth. In front of her was a sword laid on the floor, lighter than the common weapons. It was meant to be a woman's, so it could be easily identified as Éowyn's.

"Amrothos, I'm telling you this is useless! I cannot take that thing from the floor; it's so heavy and doesn't want to cooperate with me!" whined Luna, pointing at the sword in front of her. "Actually, I don't know why I should learn to use a sword! I'm not a knight, nor will I ever be!"

"Just imagine that you _need_ to defend yourself and you cannot because you never learnt how to… What will you do then?" asked Amrothos, trying to convince her.

"I'll just run my life away." It was the simple answer from Luna. Faramir started laughing at that point – it has been almost all day and Luna couldn't take the sword from the floor, and Amrothos wouldn't stop bullying her to do it. Even Éowyn made team with the prince and tried to convince the Spanish girl too.

"_Just take that sword from the floor. RIGHT NOW._" Amrothos was well known to be the calmer and childish one between the three sons of Imrahil, but he could be as imposing as his brothers when he wanted to.

Luna sighed and bent down to take the sword. It was heavy, but not like the first one that Amrothos gave to her, but still wasn't lighter enough for her. She took it with her two hands and lifted it off the floor. Her arms started to hurt right away and she lost her balance, just when she thought she would fall two hands help her taking the sword from behind.

"Are you okay, Luna?" asked a husky voice near her ear. She recognised Erchirion without looking at him and smiled.

"Yup! Thank you!" She then looked right to Amrothos eyes. "I did it. Now, it's over."

"What? You sure picked it up but you don't know how to use it! Remember: what will you do if you're in trouble?"

"I'll just have to be near a prince in shining armour with a white horse. Just like now."

"I'll take it as if you've accepted my apologies, can I?" asked Erchirion, so only she could hear him.

"Just for now, but yes, you can. We still need to talk, though…"

* * *

**Note:** Oh, I'm so sorry that it took me forever to update this but I already said that my beta and I are pretty busy women... But, oh well, it's here! Hope you like it!


	7. Chapter 7

"Uncle 'chirion!" shouted little Alphros, jumping off his mother's lap. "You're here! Now Auntie Luna will defeat Uncle 'mrothos, right?"

"Aye, I'll make sure she does defeat Amrothos," Erchirion replied, scuffing his nephew's hair

"You wish, Brother… she's such a failure as a fighter," said Amrothos, shaking his head. "If only she could pick up that sword without help…"

"I'm not a failure as a fighter! I just don't want to show it to you," said Luna, giving her sword to Erchirion and taking a step closer to the younger brother. "You wish you could have the same super magical powers that I have. I can be just like a ninja, if I want to of course." Luna crossed her arms in front of her chest and smiled mischievously.

"Just you prove it, Lady. And what in the name of Morgoth is a 'nin-yaa'?" asked Amrothos. While the two were arguing, Nieriel had taken Alphros and gone to greet her husband, going with him inside. Aragorn, Faramir, and Imrahil were now sitting on the bench with Lothíriel – all of them had sparkling drops of amusement dancing in their eyes. It was no wonder since all arguments between Luna and Amrothos were quite a sight. Éowyn was still next to Dol Amroth's princes, and Erchirion was a little behind Luna in the middle of the courtyard.

"I said I don't want to! Just let me remind you - don't mess with a ballerina, we actually can put all our strength and weight on our tip toes. You don't want to taste a ballerina's fury, trust me."

"What's a ballerina?" whispered Imrahil to his companions.

"Oh! It's a kind of dancer, Luna danced like one for us once. Really touching, so elegant and precious it made me cry…" explained Lothíriel, in a whisper - her voice sweet at the memory.

"She can actually do that?" asked Faramir, "and I just thought she was quite the brave girl… but she told us of all those amazing things she has learned in her life. Dancing, playing the violin, to read and write in three languages – now five, since she can speak in ours."

"She wanted to learn Rohirric, too." Éowyn was now in front of them, smiling sweetly with Aragorn keeping her hands in his. Luna was still with the two princes, but they were walking inside the palace. "They're going to change. I should go to change too; people usually don't like to see their Queen dressed as I am right now."

"I'm coming too, dearest." With that the King and the Queen were gone, leaving Imrahil with his daughter and nephew.

Amrothos and Erchirion walked Luna to her chambers. Luna wanted to show them something. The men stood outside the rooms while Luna went inside to her bag. Meanwhile, the two brothers were looking at the room: They were used to women's rooms, of course they were, but Luna's rooms were like a child's one.

"She chose it herself," explained Amrothos, "she said that the other ones were quite boring, so Éowyn let her take whichever she wanted. It was quite a chaos to putting the bed in there, but now they have a large boring room with a child's size bed." Erchirion couldn't help but chuckle while listening to his brother; it was so typical of Luna to do such things. "I know you're not the talkative type, but you're usually not _this_ quiet… something's wrong, Brother? Do you want to talk about something? Do you want me to punch some bad kid who has made fun of you?"

"I was the one punching kids that made fun of _you_, don't you remember?"

"Well I quite remember it now… I've never said thank you, so, thank you."

"You're welcome; that's what brothers are supposed to do. And don't worry, I'm okay… just a little bit…" Erchirion was frowning in thought, searching for that word that his tongue refused to pronounce; Amrothos grinned.

"Scared. The word is 'scared'. It's not a big deal, Brother, even the bravest of men would be scared when his lady says 'we need to talk' – remember ada's face every time nana would say that? It was highly amusing."

Erchirion smiled widely. "Yes, sure I remember that! But the problem here is that she's not my lady."

"Who's not your lady?" smiled Luna, both men shared a glance and then look again at her without saying a word. "Okay, I get it 'you must not talk of women with another girl,' by the way, Erchirion, what do you do when you're in the wild? Is it fun?"

"Fun? How could it be 'fun'? We are searching for corsairs and other kinds of people attempting to disrupt Dol Amroth's peace," answered Erchirion, frowning; Luna giggled in an extremely girly way and then talked again:

"I knew that! I was just wondering if you did campfires at night and sang songs while someone played the guitar. Maybe Tybalt. Yes, actually, Tybalt could be that man, now that you mention…"

"Okay, that's it. Just tell me what a nin-yaa is, and what a guitar is!" said Amrothos, looking directly at her eyes. She answered smiling and shaking her head - no, something that made the younger prince sigh in frustration. "I'll make you tell it to me. Just you wait! But for now, didn't you have something to show to us?"

"Oh yes! Since I arrived in Dol Amroth, I've been thinking of how Amrothos lookes exactly as my brother. I told you I have a brother, right?"

The brothers look at each other, shrugged, and then nodded. "Good! Yesterday I was playing with my phone and found pictures of my family and friends… I was so nostalgic, you know; I really miss them. But, well… I just found a picture of my brother, and wanted you to see it."

She unlocked her iPhone and searched through the pictures until finding the one she wanted. It was a kind of family photo - two brunettes, one of them was Luna; the other was a man in his early twenties that everybody could identify as Luna's brother, Hans. Both siblings were grinning mischievously in front of a white cake with red letter writing 'Happy Birthday'. Hans was, as Luna said, similar to Amrothos; they both shared hair colour, but the first had turquoise eyes whereas the last had his eyes grey. Their smiles were also similar as was their olive skin.

"You could say your brother looks like me, indeed… but I'll never admit he's more handsome than I am."

"You just did!" laughed Luna, whole-heartedly. Erchirion took the phone and look at the picture more intensely. "What's the matter?"

"What was that cake for? And why does it have letters?"

Luna stopped laughing and smiled warmly, before answering Erchirion.

"It was our sister's birthday. It was a sponge cake with… I don't know the Sindarin word to it! They're similar to strawberries, but they're not. They're smaller and the texture is different… Mmm, I don't know how to explain it!"

"Red berries?" asked Amrothos, and Luna nodded. "Maybe it could be 'raspberry'?"

"…Maybe. Well, we will call it like this for now. So it was a sponge cake with 'raspberries,' because they were Mary's favourite. Mary's my sister's name, if you didn't know. My brother's name is Hans if you had forgotten. She was turning sixteen in this picture. I remember that day; mom was at home making dinner, dad was helping her, friends and family were together, and Hans and I ended up smearing Mary's face with the cake; it was hilarious until mom discovered what we had done. Then she made us go buy another cake." A single tear was running down Luna's check.

"I really miss them; I miss our birthday celebration, actually last month was dad's birthday and I wasn't home with them. I wonder what they did; I sometimes think if their lives are the same without me. I like to think that they're not, that I'm important in their lives and they care about me! But then I feel bad, because it'd be easy if they just forget everything about me and just keep on living…" Erchirion wiped her tears away; Amrothos put an arm around her shoulders.

Erchirion brushed his brother's arm from Luna's shoulders and embraced her in his stead. It was the same feeling again, even though she was in need of comfort, he couldn't quite take his brother being there for her in this concrete moment. It felt _wrong_; first because he was being childish – she wasn't his property, after again because he was denying her comfort when she needed; it was the worst feeling he had ever felt.

On the other hand, Amrothos understood right away of the reason behind his brother's behaviour; it was quite obvious that his older brother had taken a liking to Luna. He wasn't the only one knowing it, it was well-known back in Dol Amroth and it was just a matter of time before Erchirion admitted it to himself. It was quite known that Erchirion did enjoy Luna's attention, but it was a wonder to everybody if she returned his feelings. She was not one always to be claiming his attention, or just fussing over him – as lots of other ladies did. She was one to be with him if they could and if not, it didn't matter. Some ladies used to say she was playing around with him, but those were the same ladies he had rejected time after time, so they weren't trustworthy. To all that, none was sure if Erchirion's feelings were love or just some half-baked illusion. Quite complicated are those two, thought Amrothos.

Luna hid her face in Erchirion's chest, her shoulders shaking because of her sobs. Amrothos presence was long ago forgotten, and Luna being in good hands, he left without a word, only glancing at his brother to make his thought known without words.

The middle son of Imrahil took Luna's hand and guided her inside a room; it was a guest room, and Erchirion's usual room when he was in the Citadel. It was just a few rooms down, to the left of his father's, and some corridors away from Luna's.

He sat down on an arm chair and made her sat on his lap; his lips brushing her hair; her wonderful dark chestnut, lavender-smelling hair. Luna looked up at him before speaking again, her eyes still red and puffy, and some tears still running down her cheeks.

"It's kind of strange crying on someone's armour… I've never done it before."

Deadpanned Luna; Erchirion just chuckled – it sounded as something a child would say, and giving the fact she was sitting on his lap and her hair was all tussled… she looked just like a child.

"You dare laugh at me? And to think I was going to offer my help to take it off." Erchirion's laughter ceased in a matter of seconds.

"Do you want to help me take my armour off?"

"I was thinking about it; it looks complicated to do it by yourself, you know. Well, yes, you know. But I won't do it if you're laughing at me, and then again I don't know how to do it."

"Can you undo my shoulder pads?" At first Luna looked with surprise, but gladly undid his shoulder pads and put them neatly on the bed. "Then the strings on my hips, if you wouldn't mind." He stood up so Luna could do it; she nodded and did what he said. They stayed like this for a few moments, Erchirion saying what she had to do, and she was doing it diligently.

Luna's small hands roamed over Erchirion's body up and down, undoing some straps and helping him take the armour parts off his body. It was a great sensation having her fingers brushing over his anatomy; even if he was wearing clothes… he lost his world for a few moments, thinking what it would be like having her hands on his body without any clothes. Then she stopped because he was only in his breaches and the under shirt.

"I can take it from here on, my lady. Thank you for your help. What do you think of your first time taking _my _armour off?"

"It's kind of… intimate… I guess it is not the usual thing a girl does for some random man?"

"I like to think it's not; but you can never be sure enough." Erchirion chuckled, "but yes, usually it's a duty for _special_ women."

At first, Luna was staring at him in confusion, then realisation came to her mind: _special woman_. 'Like in… a sister? Mother? Or… Wife?'

"Yes." Erchirion was looking at her with his eyebrows arched and a sufficient smile on his lips, as if he had read her thoughts. "Didn't you realise it? It's not a common thing for a woman to take off someone's armour without her being in some kind of close relationship, Luna."

"But we're not… that! And I just did it! You tricked me!"

"You were the one suggesting it!"

"But, I didn't know it was meant to be a wifely thing! What if people know about it? What will we do? I'm not so sure about my safety if one of your ladies knows about this!"

* * *

**Note:** Haha, that was fast, huh? Well, I'm sorry to say that you shouldn't get used to it for a while, final exams start within two weeks! And in other news, HAPPY NEW YEAR!


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean by 'one of my ladies', Luna?" asked Erchirion, his voice was low but not without anger in it.

"Oh, c'mon! You sure are aware of how popular you're with women!" Luna's voice was rather confused; her thoughts were faster than her ability to speak, so lots of information was making its way to her brain. "Hey, let's forget about this, okay? I'm going to bath and get pretty for tonight, and you should do the same."

Erchirion watched as Luna turned around to walk to the door. He knew what she meant with 'one of his ladies', she has seen it with her own eyes. She was still mad for what had happened in Dol Amroth. He could tell that, but why didn't she asked about it? She said she wanted to. Before knowing what he was doing, Erchirion's hands closed the door that Luna was about to open. She stood still, shocked by his reaction and his closeness –just few millimetres from her, his arms slightly touching hers and his face buried in her hair.

"Don't." His voice was soft and husky; it came out as a whisper. An imposing, whisper. "If I let go of my hold on the door, will you try to leave?" She shook her head. "No, that's good. You have something to say, don't you? The only way to solve problems is by talking, so don't be afraid of speaking your mind, Luna." He embraced her waist with one of his arms and went to sit on the same chair they had sat on when they first entered the room. She was on his lap again. Their eyes met when she spoke again.

"You don't need to give me explanations of what you do with your life… You're a full grown man with the ability to choose what you want."

"But still, you need me to say something, right? Speak your mind, Lu-"

"NO! I can't speak my mind here! Don't you understand it? I come from a place where women are equal to men, where we can rule a kingdom without the need of a man, where we can work and bring up a family without men… And that's not strange! But here I even need an escort to go to the beach with a friend! I can't be out and alone when night comes, and I have to wear dresses the length of my body, because it's _not proper_ to do otherwise!" Luna's petit body was shaking with every breathe she took – she was angry and confused. Today was not her best day.

Erchirion brought her closer to him, letting her head rest on his chest. She was being childish not in her way of speaking, but in her way of acting. He looked at her, fragile and lost, he thought of himself in her place: lost in a place he didn't know, without being able to communicate properly until months later, not knowing anything about their customs, laws and people; so far from his family and friends… He included having people next to him and caring for him, but that didn't change the previous statements.

"I'm sorry. You must be tired, Luna; you should go and rest. Take your time and come to us when you feel you're ready. You do know we will listen to whatever you wish to say. Really, take your time…" He stood up with Luna in his arms and put her on the ground, and then guided her through the corridors to her own chambers. When Erchirion was sure that she was inside her rooms he went back to his –maybe she was excused of her absence tonight, but he was not.

Once in his room, he went to the bathroom annexed to his bedchamber. Someone had filled the tub with hot water, so he took a long and relaxing bath with aromatic soap. He shaved and brushed his hair until all the knots from days in the wild were gone. He looked rather handsome after grooming, he thought for a moment. Once in his bedchamber he dressed in black breeches and a blue tunic, thanks to his sister that brought him some clothes from Dol Amroth.

**o0o**

Luna was lying on her bed, covered with the sheets from head to toe. She was cold and trembling, even though the weather was rather warm. Her hair was a mess and she was crying without tears. Images of her siblings, her parents, friends, classmates; all the places she had been, memories of her first time at the ocean or her graduation from primary school… All of them hard as bricks and distant as dreams. It felt as if she actually hadn't ever been in there, as if all she knew was nothing but a dream. Maybe she was being selfish and too self-centred; she hadn't been grateful enough to the people that took her in without knowing a thing about her. Imrahil had been nothing but gentle and fatherly to her, Elphir was patient and she owed her life to him, just like to Amrothos, who was like her own brother, and Lothíriel always helping her with everything and teaching her how to fit in there. Then again, Erchirion was kind of her rock –the one she always ran to when needed to be comforted, and he was always there for her. She hadn't been a good guest, nor with the Dol Amroth family, nor with Faramir, nor with anyone.

With these thoughts in mind, she woke up and went to have her bath, someone had the tub filled with hot water and she dove in as soon as she could, all her body covered by soap and some lavender-smelling scented oil. Her hair was still damp when she ended up brushing it, then Luna opened her wardrobe and chose a thin, deep blue gown that embraced her hips and chest as if it were a second skin. She put some kohl to make her eyes look more turquoise, and braided her hair for she knew that a woman with her hair loose was not in the Gondor fashion.

Luna met up with Lothíriel on her way to dinner, so they entered the hall together. They didn't go unnoticed to few young men and some other ladies, nor to their friends and family.

"You two look lovely tonight," commented Éowyn, taking them in. "I am sure that Prince Imrahil will be busy chasing lots of young men out of this hall."

"Indeed he will, your highness, for I don't think he will approve of any other than some northern king, and some southern prince to marry them. Am I wrong Lothíriel, Luna?" said Faramir in a teasing tone, earning some laughs from Amrothos and Elphir. Luckily Erchirion was a little far from them, talking with Tybalt and another knight who looked a little younger than them.

When the dinner was served, Luna was seated right next to Lothíriel, in front of Míriel, for Amrothos and Erchirion had preferred to sit a few sits down, next to a friend of theirs.

The dinner went smoothly with some soup, chicken and vegetables, until the desserts came in; lemon cake, apples, cherries, strawberries and other red berries, oranges and berries tartlets smeared with honey.

"Luna," called Amrothos from his sitting place, taking a berry to show it to her. "This is a 'raspberry', is it what you said earlier?"

"Yeah, it was! 'raspberry', huh?" she repeated the word to herself, a little more and then smiled to him, "I think I get it, thank you!"

"And you were saying she was in low spirits, Brother," whispered Amrothos to Erchirion, who was next to him.

"Because she was, but I'm not complaining about this change in her humour."

After dinner people went back to their duties and the King retired with his Queen to a private chamber for talk and drink with their close friends. It was a lovely room with two couches and bar with wine and other spirited drinks; little cakes were on the tea table, too. Luna took a sip of her wine - it was sweet.

"Here we are," said Amrothos, "does someone want to share anything?" His brothers laughed, as did the King, but the others took a moment to think if they did want to say something.

"I do," said Luna shyly. "I'd like to say something to all of you."

"Go ahead then, my lady," said Aragorn, smiling to encourage her. Her eyes roamed over everyone else in the room, and then started explaining about her thoughts and feelings of being far from home, and how she thought herself to be ungrateful to all of them up until now. They listened to her and took in everything she said.

"You don't need to say thank you to us, Luna. We did the right thing and we understand that you're feeling somewhat lonely. You don't need to hurry to fit in; you will do in due time," said Elphir when she had finished, followed by the others nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure you understand… I really would hate it if you start to think badly of me. And I have one more thing to share…"

"What it is?" asked Faramir, smiling.

"A song… I'm not a good singer, nor am I bad either, and it'd sound better with music, but..."

"Don't worry, just sing and let us decide," said Lothíriel, taking Luna's hands in hers and smiling.

_Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation  
Darkness wakes and stirs imagination  
Silently the senses abandon their defences_

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour  
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender

_Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth  
And the truth isn't what you want to see  
In the dark it is easy to pretend..  
That the truth is what it ought to be..._

Close your eyes start a journey through a strange, new world  
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before  
Close your eyes and let music set you free  
Only then can you belong to me.

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication  
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation  
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in  
To the power of the music that I write  
The power of the music of the night

"And you said you didn't sing well…" said Amrothos, he was speechless as were the others; the last notes of Luna's voice still ringing in their ears.

"I have that friend called Hana whose voice is perfect. There are people that say that if she can't sing it, then none would ever be able to."

"That aside, your voice is so beautiful! Why haven't we ever heard you singing?" asked Lothíriel, hugging Luna. The great thing about this princess was how affectionate she was, for she always had a hug for everyone who needed one.

"I'm shy when it comes to singing, I much prefer dancing."

"Quite the mystery you are, huh?" said Elphir, just before Aragorn spoke.

"Your singing is lovely, my lady, but I'd like to know what your words meant, for it was an unknown language to us."

Luna translated the lyrics into Sindarin so they could understand what she said, and why she chose this song. After that they understood, there was talking for two hours more, until it was time to call it a night.

Erchirion decided to escort Luna back to her chambers to have some time alone. "I thought you wouldn't come down tonight, you looked so distressed… But I assume you're better now."

"Thank you, 'chiri, I was being so childish earlier and yet you stayed with me. Really, thank you," whispered Luna, looking to her feet to avoid his darting gaze over her.

"It was nothing; I'll be always here for you." His voice rang husky in Luna's ears and she shivered unconsciously, and then they were in front of her bedchamber door. He took her hand, but before he had time to kiss it she opened the door and pulled him in with her.

"What are you doing?" asked Erchirion in shock, she looked up to meet his gaze.

"I… don't… want to sleep alone tonight."

* * *

**Note:** Here it is! right before I head into my notes for my exams -boo! wish me luch :)


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